Harvard.racial science
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A comprehensive report by Harvard University acknowledges that 19th- and 20th-century faculty actively promoted pseudoscientific "race science" and eugenics to justify racial hierarchies, often using the bodies of enslaved people for abusive experiments. Modern scientific consensus completely rejects these theories as biologically baseless. [1, 2]
To contextualize this history, consider these key facts:
- Louis Agassiz: A 19th-century Harvard zoology professor who was a prominent proponent of polygenism. He infamously used enslaved people on a South Carolina plantation as "live research specimens" and had daguerreotypes made of them to argue for Black biological inferiority. [1]
- The Medical School: By the 1850s, Harvard Medical School had become a major focal point for these racist theories. The remains of enslaved individuals were used as teaching tools and photographic subjects. [1, 2]
Today, the university acknowledges this dark legacy and works to address it through ongoing institutional research and educational initiatives. [1]
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